How did partnerships/relationships developed prior to school closures, allow for the development of engaging, meaningful learning during the school closures brought on by the COVID 19 Pandemic? Discover how designing curriculum together enabled one teacher to bring the field into her classroom and close the divide between classroom and community. Not only did it bring the much needed outdoor reprieve right to students’ zoom learning classroom in interactive ways, but it also highlighted how when confronted by challenging times, collaborations are bright lights that can lead the way. The mutual respect and aloha formed during teacher-partner relationships provided the foundation for reciprocal inspiration to feed off of each other’s ideas, and weave together that much sought after engaging, interdisciplinary learning that ignites student curiosity and wonder. In the end, relationships between everyone involved deepens, and at the same time, relationship and connections to place deepens. Units developed in this way brought together people, place, culture, and the integration of learning disciplines–reading, writing, science, the arts, and culture. This unifying spirit was something that we all needed, on so many levels. It exemplified how we really are not alone, we really are not isolated if we reach out to one another, support one another, lift up one another.

Session Recording

STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place